


Taking Chances

by iceiceiceiceice



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2019-07-12 14:45:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15997409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceiceiceiceice/pseuds/iceiceiceiceice
Summary: Miyuki has had the biggest crush on the younger Hitachiin twin for years now and after her awkward confession, Kaoru couldn’t stop her from lingering at the back of his mind. Now they’re both in their first year of high school and, by chance, partners on a project. And they would learn the difference between being told a secret and finding out yourself.





	1. Notice Me

**Author's Note:**

> this story was originally published on fanfiction.net
> 
> disclaimer: I do not own the Ouran High School Host Club series, all credits of canon elements go to the creators

"Look, Kaoru. She's there."

Kaoru stopped leaning against the window and turned his body to look. There, one floor down at the courtyard but still under the shade of the school building, was a girl. Kazehaya Miyuki. That was the first time he really noticed her, despite them being in the same class since middle school started.

"Yeah... You're right, Hikaru."

But he knew who she was. She was voted class representative almost every year. She was the second child of the family who owned the Kaze Hotels around the world. She was the one who wrote him that love letter.

And that was why the twins were making their way down the stairs then. They always did this, whenever someone wrote a love letter to them, like it was a test or something. Neither remembered how it started but they had done it so many times, their little show was almost routine.

They said the same things, the girls replied the same things, and it always ended the same way.

Maybe a little different every time, depending on the girl, but the Hitachiins pretty much knew what to expect by now. So, staying out of sight, they parted ways and Hikaru went to wait behind a tree by the fountain in the courtyard while Kaoru walked towards the girl, the love letter tucked in his pocket.

Miyuki didn't notice him at first, still smoothing out the front of her brown school skirt. She was fixing her dark almost-black hair when she finally noticed his presence. A sharp intake of breath, a rush of heat to the cheeks later, her heart beat faster. The same way anyone's would when faced with their crush.

"H-hi," she stammered out nervously, bowing a little. The young girl wasn't used to doing something like this, confessing and all... It was her _friends_ who convinced her to do it. Her fingers fiddled with each other.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting, Miyuki," Kaoru said charmingly, not bothering with honorifics, and quickly added without waiting for a response, "I read your letter."

Miyuki took a deep breath to work up her courage. "Kaoru-kun, I—"

"I'm sorry but," Kaoru paused to pull out the letter from his pocket and then lied smoothly as they had done so many times so easily before, "I'm Hikaru, actually. You must've gotten our desks mixed up and put your letter in mine." He smiled in a way one would say was gentle.

The girl looked crestfallen which quickly turned into embarrassment a moment later when she realized her mistake. She was sure she put the letter in _Kaoru's_ desk... He was the one who usually sat by the window, right? O-or maybe she did get it mixed up in her nervousness. And it wasn't uncommon for the twins to switch seats so…

She was just about to apologize for her mistake when the auburn-haired boy spoke again.

"Do you think you could like me instead?"

Miyuki finally looked up. The boy's face was closer to hers than she realized. It didn't seem to faze him.

"I should confess... To be honest with you, I always thought you're really cute. Besides, Kaoru has a crush on someone else. So, what do you say?"

Surprised brown eyes blinked back at calm lighter ones. Truthfully, the fact that stood out most to her was the fact that Kaoru already liked someone else. She had no idea... How embarrassing! But Miyuki forced herself to stay strong. Hikaru was looking at her expectantly. And he had just given her a pretty sweet offer.

"No," she finally said, after a minute. The answer surprised both parties, apparently. Miyuki pulled her lips into a small smile, looking back down to her fiddling fingers. Bad habit. "I'm sorry, Hikaru-kun. Doing that would be unfair because... I still have feelings for Kaoru-kun. I'm really flattered though!" she added this last part quickly, lifting her gaze and surprising him again. Her cheeks were flushed.

Kaoru looked back at her, unsure what to say. This was _not_ part of the script. Every other girl just went with it. They would accept the idea of liking the other twin instead and then they would turn around and chide the girl for being greedy and shallow or whatever. The insult differed every time—never the response.

But there she was, Miyuki, rejecting one twin for the other.

Seeing no reaction, she hurriedly continued, now squeezing her hands. That shy smile still graced her features. "N-no one has ever said what you said to me before so, uhm, thank you."

She bowed lightly and started to walk away, leaving Kaoru alone and watching her back as she disappeared down the hallway and around a corner.

"Well, that was interesting," a voice mused aloud.

Kaoru turned his head to see his twin standing next to him, also watching where the girl was. Despite that nonchalant face, he could tell that Hikaru was equally baffled as he was. Even though that girl couldn't tell them apart, as evidenced by her not realizing Kaoru was lying about his identity, she still stuck to her idea of liking only one of them.

But what was the _difference_? The other girls didn't seem to think there was much of one. And if Miyuki did, she didn't see through their lie. So what was with her?

Kaoru looked down the hallway again though she was no longer there. "Yeah..."

Since that day, Kaoru began 'noticing' Kazehaya Miyuki. The way she always giggled politely to her friends' jokes even when they weren't that funny. The way she covered her mouth when she laughed more sincerely. The way she doodled when she was bored and the way she fiddled with her fingers when she got nervous. The way she got nervous whenever _he_ walked into the room—or when she noticed his general presence, really.

She probably didn't think he noticed. Granted, it was hard to tell considering the Hitachiin twins usually kept a poker face on. But he noticed. He knew Hikaru did too but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. They went on with their lives, breaking a few hearts here and there with their routine. It went smoothly, unlike with Miyuki. They didn't bother to really acknowledge her after that day, treating her like they treated everyone else.

But still, she lingered in the back of Kaoru's mind.

On her end, it seemed she never lost her feelings for him, if how flustered she got around him was any indication. Kaoru wasn't sure how he felt about that.

The only other eventful thing that happened that school year was when an upperclassman somehow convinced them to join a new host club he would be starting the next year. They'd be playing a borderline incestuous pair of mischievous twins, no less... But slowly, their world was opening up. Now it was up to them to let people in.

_**[[cover](http://ultraimg.com/images/2018/09/30/OLDj.md.jpg) ]** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow what a throwback, I can't believe I wrote this story only a year ago xD


	2. Tease

It was about a month into the first semester of their first high school year. After over a year of working at the Host Club, the Hitachiin twins actually looked forward to going there and putting on their act. An act, it may be, but they were just as mischievous as their personas so it was fun. And goodness forbid they miss out on anything fun.

Before they could go for their extracurricular activities though, they had to go through a full day of school first. As always. Not that they expected differently anyway. It was routine.

Even their club president's crazy antics and wild ideas were part of that routine. And though they'd never admit it to Tamaki, they wouldn't like it any other way.

So the brothers put on their high school uniforms, got in their family limousine, and went to Ouran High School. After the assembly, together, they walked up the stairs to their classroom. In all their years of school, they had always been in the same class.

A certain black-haired girl was usually in there too.

The second they entered the classroom, Kaoru spied her at the front and center of the sea of seats. Miyuki always sat there; every year, the same spot because everyone knew she was a teacher's pet and she had fully embraced it. Despite that label, she had a fair amount of friends—most of which were much louder than her.

"—told me _my beauty was incomparable to any flower_!" squealed one of them.

The others swooned and gushed how romantic that was... It sounded like Akira had paid a visit to the Host Club and fell for one of Tamaki's charming lines. Miyuki giggled appropriately and smiled.

Another girl sighed, leaning on Miyuki. "Oh, I wish I had someone who would say stuff like that to me..."

"You can easily get that at the Host Club, Toki."

"But that'll make all of us spending our evenings there! Miyuki would be left alone..."

"That's fine," Miyuki interjected, stifling a laugh. "Maybe I'll finally get some peace and quiet."

For that, her friends gasped and one slapped her arm lightly, making a chorus of, _"That's mean! Rude! Miyuki!"_ between giggles. Miyuki rubbed her arm, laughing softly with them but she stopped abruptly when she noticed the auburn-haired twins walking in.

The other girls didn't seem to notice her getting flustered and continued with their conversation. Kaoru didn't look long her way enough for the two to lock gazes, walking right past the group and to his seat next to the window. Hikaru sat beside him.

Before Miyuki could rejoin her friends though, another presence interrupted them.

"Excuse me."

Her standing friends parted excitedly so Fujioka Haruhi could get to her seat which was next to Miyuki's. She sat, setting down her bag and then smiling to the other. "Morning, Miyuki-chan."

She smiled back casually. "Morning, Haruhi-kun."

The others were not as calm.

Haruhi was a girl but they didn't know that. Save for the Host Club, the entire student body thought she was one of the hosts, the 'natural' type. Though she was fairly new, Haruhi was becoming increasingly popular at the Host Club. The girls still got quite giddy around her like they used to when the Hitachiin twins first started. They still fangirl-ed over the latter, sure, though not as much.

But not Miyuki. Maybe that was why Haruhi seemed to prefer spending time with her, given the option. Miyuki, for one, found it unnatural to fawn over someone when her heart already belonged to a certain someone else.

Yeah, that had yet to die down but thankfully, her friends thought it had so she didn't endure as much teasing as she used to.

"Haruhi, I was just telling Miyuki she should come by the Host Club one day," said Toki, beaming sweetly.

"That'll be great." Haruhi gave a charming smile that sent the girls swooning. "I would love to spend more time with you, Miyuki—and all your friends too, of course."

"She gets plenty of attention from you outside the Host Club, Haruhi!" Misako whined teasingly.

Akira giggled. "Yeah! She should meet the others too—like the Hitachiins."

That caught the attention of the namesakes. At the mention of their name, they looked at each other and made their way over to the group, joining by Haruhi's sides. "Speak of the devil..." began Hikaru on the right and Kaoru finished for him on the left, "... and he shall appear."

"What are we talking about?" they both asked in perfect synchronization.

Haruhi smiled at her fellow hosts who were the only ones in their class who knew her true gender. "Hey, guys." She gestured before her. "Miyuki might come visit our little club."

"Really?" both mused aloud.

"What changed your mind?" asked Hikaru with a grin, knowing the girl had never tried the services of the Host Club before.

Miyuki was blushing quite madly by then. Never had they addressed her directly like this! Not since _that_ day—which she had a feeling nobody except she remembered. And never in public, ever! "N-no, nothing!" she objected, waving her hands frantically and then fiddling with her fingers. "Toki... well, I never really... I just meant..."

"Aw, look how flustered she is!" Misako pointed out, giggling.

Toki poked her arm playfully. "Hey, you don't still have a crush on K—"

"H- _hey_ , Toki-chan!" Miyuki interrupted her almost desperately before sinking in her seat, embarrassed by her outburst. "I just have other things to do, that's all..."

Haruhi laughed good-naturedly. There was a smile on Hikaru's face, like he suddenly recalled an old memory. Kaoru had a feeling he knew what it was—and the other girls seemed to be thinking of Miyuki's old crush on him too. Taking pity on her, he spoke before anyone could dwell on the thought.

"I get it." All eyes turned to him and he smiled warmly. "That's why I'm glad my favourite things to do can be done at the same time. Hanging out with you lovely ladies," he smiled at all of them and then to his brother, "and spending time with my brother."

Hikaru smirked, picking up on the hint and pulling his twin to him by the arm so their bodies were flush against each other's. "Aw, do you mean that, Kaoru?" he asked in a low voice, grinning mischievously.

"Hi-Hikaru!" His voice came out stuttered, as if he was surprised by his twin's actions. Kaoru lowered his gaze before lifting it to look the other in the eye. "Of course..."

Before it could get any further, much to the dismay of the watching fangirls, their teacher entered and instructed everyone to go to their seats. He apologized for being late but a lot of the girls thought he should be sorrier for interrupting the free show!

Oh well... all the more reason to go to the Host Club, right?

Before returning to his seat, Kaoru heard a soft sigh of relief from Miyuki. He smiled.

Not that he did this for her though. Nah, he just saw the opportunity to draw more interest to the Host Club and took it. And it was fun to mess with these girls, sometimes. Right?


	3. Partners

"Uhm, Kaoru-kun?"

The timid voice broke through his thoughts. Kaoru pulled his gaze away from the window to look at the girl who was standing by his table. As soon as he did so though, Miyuki looked away, her side-locks assisting in hiding part of her face. She was nervous which he didn't understand. But he was mostly just confused as to what she was doing here at all. "Yeah?"

After confirming that she had his attention, Miyuki spoke shyly. "Y-you're supposed to pick a name..."

Kaoru looked down to see she was holding a little box half-filled with folded pieces of paper. He looked around to see half of the class standing, talking among themselves. He looked directly to his right to see his twin looking back at him, an eyebrow quirked upwards.  _ Oh. _

He remembered then.

Ouran was holding a Spring Festival and every class was required to participate. Their class, Class 1-A, decided to have a mini bake sale and they were splitting off into groups of two to handle a certain part of their booth.

Right.

The boy stuck his hand into the little box and rummaged around before pulling out a piece of paper. Miyuki moved on to the student behind him and held out the box again.  Phew, that was nerve wracking…

Half the class, including Miyuki, had written their names down on pieces of paper and the other half got to pick their partners by random. The class teacher thought it would more fun that way—more chances for the students to interact with one another. Whoopee.

"Who'd you get?" asked Hikaru, drawing the attention of a lot of the girls.

Kaoru unfolded his paper and read the name aloud. "Kazehaya Miyuki."

_ CLANG! CLANG! _

"S-sorry!" Miyuki bent down to pick up the fallen box and paper pieces, drawing the attention of the remainder of the class.

"Awh, Miyuki-chan got one of the twins? I'm so jealous!"

"Hehe, you're so clumsy, Miyuki..."

"I hope I get the other!"

The twins had turned in their seats too, surprised by the loud noise. The girl's face was blocked from view due to her side-locks but he could tell she was flustered. The new bob haircut was cute, really, but Kaoru couldn't remember the last time he properly saw her face. Middle school, maybe?

Miyuki stood and moved on, acting as if she was perfectly calm. She wasn't. But she guessed she'd have to deal with that later.

"Oh boy..." Kaoru murmured with a soft sigh, facing his brother.

Hikaru snickered. "I would say it's not too late to change but you  _ did  _ say her name out loud."

"Tsk. Why couldn't we have just paired up together like we always do?"

"Majority vote," Hikaru answered simply, shrugging. "You want to switch?"

"Can we?" Nobody knew which of the twins already got their partner, right? They could just pretend it was the other.

"We'll see."

They didn't end up switching partners. Hikaru pulled out Haruhi's name and decided he wanted to stick with her. Kaoru understood, as usual.

Besides, surely the incident of two years ago would never come up, right? Hopefully, Miyuki wouldn't waste their time by fawning over him... But he knew he could handle it even if she was a fangirl; he couldn't say the same for Hikaru who could get really nasty when he was annoyed or upset. Kaoru had always been more of the mature one, though most people didn't see the difference.

Miyuki saw it though. It made a huge difference to her. If Hikaru was her partner instead, she wouldn't be as flustered as she was now. Nobody probably realized that... except maybe her friends because when they learned just which twin she got partnered up with, they gave her meaningful looks. Then again, they could just be teasing her.

Well, no choice but to suck it up! And that was exactly what she did when everyone was instructed to go to their partners and discuss the beginnings of their plans. Miyuki was the last to do this because as class representative, she had to assign everyone their tasks.

But finally, she had to pull up a chair and sit across from Kaoru at his table—and she was very sure it  _ was  _ him because the other twin was talking cheerily with Haruhi. Her fingers fiddled between each other on her lap, a clear sign of her nervousness.

Kaoru blinked at her, waiting for her to initiate conversation, but she just sat there, her eyes on the table between them as if something interesting was there. "So...?" he drawled expectantly.

She jumped, the sudden break of silence surprising her. "Oh right..." She inhaled. "Er, Kaoru-kun and I will be doing the f-fliers for our class booth."

"That's it? That sounds pretty simple."

Miyuki's shoulders hunched upwards awkwardly. "D-designing isn't that ea—"

The boy interrupted, "That's not what I meant, Miyuki." He smiled. "I mean... everyone seems like they have more work, you know?"

"Oh..." She gave a smile too though it was small. "I have to supervise the whole thing anyway so that might take up a lot of time and I didn't want you to get stuck with so much work alone because that would be—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Kaoru interrupted again with a chuckle. Jeez, this girl could blabber.

His classmate smiled properly then and for a moment, raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm sure the others will need help with the general baking and getting ingredients and stuff so... for now, all we have to do is design the fliers and get them printed."

Nodding, Kaoru leaned back in his seat. "So when should we meet up?" She looked genuinely confused so he continued. "Well, I doubt we have much time left before our next class.  _ Designing isn't that easy _ ," he echoed teasingly which made the girl blush. "How about after school, at the library?"

"Don't you have host duties, Kaoru-kun?" Miyuki asked hesitantly.

"Not till a little later. And I could miss a few minutes, it's not a big deal."

It actually might be a big deal, Miyuki knew. Without Kaoru, customers couldn't get the whole  _ Brotherly Love _ package thingy. She knew plenty of girls who would rush over to the Host Club as soon as it opened so they could see the twins in action.

But... if Kaoru was okay with it, then she would be too! Might as well get this over with as soon as possible before she lost her courage.


	4. Alone Together

Just like that, Miyuki was pretty much distracted for rest of the day. She had a meeting with her crush of two years! Who wouldn't be excited? She hoped she looked okay today. If she had known she was going to get some alone time with Kaoru, she would've... she would've... Okay, maybe there wouldn't be a difference, but _still_!

Over where Kaoru sat, he glanced at the girl at the front of the class a number of times throughout the day. She'd always had a pleasant and gentle expression but today, she appeared to smile to herself more often.

When class finally ended, he reminded his brother of the change of plans and they walked out of the class with Haruhi.

Miyuki found herself a little disheartened. She thought the two of them were going to go out together... W-well, he never specified if they _would_ be so she shouldn't feel anything about it. She would just see him at the library then—if he remembered. For the life of her, she couldn't work up the nerve to call out and remind him.

So the girl packed up her things quickly and joined her friends in exiting the class, quietly listening to the conversation. They knew she had to go to the library but offered to walk her there before heading for the Host Club.

To their surprise though, that wouldn't be necessary.

"Miyuki," called out a too-familiar voice as the group of girls walked out.

The black-haired one turned and couldn't help but smile widely when she saw Kaoru leaning against the wall next to the door to the classroom. So he _did_ wait for her, after all! No, no, she shouldn't think too much into this…

Her giddiness was interrupted by Misako's giggling. "Well, I guess you don't need us then, Miyuki-chan." The others followed her lead and walked away, Toki giving her friend a pat on the head as a farewell. "Don't have too much fun, now! You're having him for free, after all."

Ugh, as if they could get any more embarrassing! Miyuki went over to where her project partner was, the blush too clear on her cheeks—what he could see of them anyway. Those side-locks make a pretty good curtain. "Sorry about them, Kaoru-kun..."

"Don't worry about it." He shook his head, smiling, and then nodded his head in direction of the library. "Shall we?"

They made their way there in silence. Miyuki wasn't sure of what kind of conversation to make and frankly, she couldn't get the words out anyway while Kaoru thought he was being polite in letting her stay in her comfort zone. Once the pair reached their destination and got to work though, he finally couldn't stand the quiet and decided to make small talk.

It worked. Slowly but surely, Miyuki let down her guard though she remained shy. Sometimes, she reverted back to that timid self when she realized the change in her behaviour, embarrassed.

It was a shame. Kaoru found she actually had a cute laugh and that hair hid a pretty face. In the end, they didn't even manage to finish the design for the bake sale fliers. He looked at the clock. "I think I should get to the club now, Miyuki."

She followed his gaze and her smile dropped. "Oh..." She looked back down at their work which, admittedly, wasn't much at all. "I-I'm sorry, Kaoru-kun."

"Don't take all the credit," he pointed out, laughing when she bowed her head. "I got distracted too. So would you please stop being so formal with me?" Still chuckling, he took her chin between his thumb and index finger and lifted her face.

His own face wasn't even that close to hers when he did this but it still made heat rise rapidly to Miyuki's cheeks. She pulled away from his grasp and nodded. "O-okay!" To distract herself, she hurriedly began clearing the table with Kaoru's help.

When he stood to leave though, she remained seated where she was with a number of books before her. "Miyuki? You're not going home?"

"I think I'm going to get some homework done here," she answered smally, wondering if he'd think she was such a nerd for doing so.

Kaoru shrugged, patted her head, and said goodbye before running off towards where the Host Club was. He didn't realize he forgot his phone in the mess that was their "work". He was more focused of the likely earful he was expecting to get from Kyoya the Shadow King.


	5. Welcome

Miyuki  _tried_ to study. Really, she did. But she just couldn't focus on algebra when that boy was still on her mind.

She ran their brief interaction over and over in her head, as if she would forget it if she stopped. He was so sweet today! There was still mischief in his eyes like he and his brother always had but... On his own, the younger twin seemed more mature and gentle.

Getting over him felt impossible. Now, she was sure she was in love with Hitachiin Kaoru.

Her daydreaming was cut short by the sound of a phone ringing but when her eyes scanned the table before her, there was none to be found.

Oh no. It was coming from somewhere under her litter of books! Miyuki stood abruptly and started searching for it, sending a few papers flying in the process but she got the phone nonetheless. "Hello?" she greeted quickly, somewhat out of breath. Yeesh, how bad was her stamina?

Silence for a moment of the other end of the line before a girl's voice spoke. "Who's this?"

"Uhm... Miyuki."

"Kazehaya?"

She paused. "Who are you?"

"Oh my gosh!" An excited squeal sounded. "What are you doing with Kaoru's phone?! Did you—"

Miyuki pulled the phone away from her ear to look at it. _Crap!_ It wasn't her phone! Ugh, Kaoru must've forgotten his in his haste to get to the club. Miyuki stammered a quick apology to the caller and hung up. Sh-she should probably return this to him before anything else happened…

She hurriedly packed up her stuff and ran out of the library to where she knew the Host Club was located. Music Room 3, wasn't it? Famous as it was, it wasn't possible to _not_ know the place. She had even walked her friends here a couple of times. Still, when she arrived, she opened the door timidly and poked her head in to make sure.

Yeah, it was the Host Club alright.

It must be a themed day because the whole room was decorated to look like a tropical island paradise. It reminded her of one of her family's hotels in Hawaii... Maybe she could look around a bit? Drawn in, Miyuki entered and let the door close behind her with a soft click.

Just this subtle sound was enough to draw the attention of a passerby though.

He was a short blonde boy who looked very cute in his costume. Must be one of the hosts. Seeing Miyuki, he turned on his heel and looked up at her with shining eyes even though she must be only about an inch or so taller than him. "Hi there!" he exclaimed excitedly, probably realizing she was new here. But instead of addressing that point, he simply invited, "Would you like some cake?"

"Erm, n-no... I really should—"

"It'll only take a minute! Come on, eat some cake with me. The Host Club has really good ones," he assured her and then insistently pulled her by the hand to an empty table. "What's your name?"

His grip wasn't that strong so she could've easily pulled away but it was hard to say no again to that cute face! So she found herself following his lead, wondering if this was part of how the club managed to draw in so many customers. "Kazehaya Miyuki."

The boy turned his head to beam at her. "That's a pretty name! Everyone calls me Hunny. Can I call you Miyu-chan?"

"Uhm, okay." She couldn't help but smile at his bright personality. But then she realized she was being pulled to a table where a taller, more intimidating black-haired boy was. She shrank under his stoic gaze. It didn't help that all these boys in costume were shirtless! She could see how muscled he was…

Even Hunny, slender he may be, had a good physique.

"Takashi! Meet Miyu-chan! Miyu-chan, you can call him Mori," Hunny cried, introducing them. "Hey, Takashi, can you get us some cake?"

Mori looked at the girl for a few seconds before finally speaking almost robotically. "Newcomer."

Almost immediately, another boy appeared and rushed to them. He had blonde hair too though it was brighter. His eyes were violet? Blue? It was obvious he had some mixed blood in him. So that meant he must be the famous Suoh Tamaki.

"Welcome! To the Ouran High School Host Club!" Tamaki had a charming grin on and leaned in close to her, making her flush immediately. "This is where—"

Miyuki took a step back, her shoulders hunched. "S-sorry but I already know... Kind of hard not to." She gave a sheepish smile and shrugged.

Tamaki peered at her and then laughed warmly. "I see... Well then, I guess the next step is for you to choose your host! Kyoya," he called out. He grabbed the arm of a neat-looking bespectacled black-haired boy who sat at a table alone with his laptop and then pulled him to face the new girl. "Kyoya, this is... Sorry, I forgot to ask your name. Or shall I just call you beautiful?"

"Her name's Kazehaya Miyuki!" Hunny answered for her, latching onto her right arm.

Something shone in Kyoya's eyes. " _Kazehaya_ , is it? Well, we'll find the perfect host for you. Our club has multiple packages to offer." The smile that crept to his lips was somewhat creepy, like he knew something she didn't. It made her think of the Cheshire cat.

Tamaki's smile seemed much more genuine, though she was sure he behaved the same way to all the club's customers. "That's right! You can pick whichever persona you like best." He leaned in close again, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "If you want, _I_ can be your prince charming."

This position was strangely familiar…

Remembering Kaoru and how he did the same thing to her just earlier, Miyuki's eyes widened and she turned away, fiddling with her fingers.

The blonde chuckled. "Hey, you don't have to be shy... You look very cute like that." Being the gentleman he was though, he didn't try to do that again. Appreciating his not pushing it, the girl smiled back shyly.

"Boss, what are you doing?"

The synchronized speech indicated the twins' presence and sure enough, when Miyuki looked up, there they were. Th-their chests were bare too, both wearing matching costumes. She looked away quickly but her cheeks flared red.

Kaoru blinked, recognizing her now they were in closer proximity. "Miyuki?"


	6. For You

"Miyuki?"

In awkward shyness, she lifted a hand to wave at Kaoru.

"Hey, Miyuki-chan." Haruhi was there too, apparently. Miyuki must've missed her when she hurriedly looked away from her crush…

Kyoya pushed his glasses slightly further up his nose. "Oh, that's right. All four of you are in the same class this year. I assume you know each other well?"

"Er, n-not at all!" Miyuki insisted, as if the alternative was too scandalous to imagine. "We're just classmates..."

"Not _just_ ," Hikaru objected, pretending to pout but it looked sly and purposeful. "You and Kaoru are project partners now. Isn't that right, Miyuki?"

The black-haired girl nodded, uncomfortable that so many eyes were on her. Now that the hosts were surrounding her, the guests were starting to look too. "Th-that's kind of why I'm here, actually..."

Haruhi looked thoughtful. "You're handling the fliers, right? Well I guess you do have more on your plate as class rep..."

"Hm?" Hunny looked up at them. "Is this about that Spring Festival? What is your class doing?"

"A bake sale," Miyuki answered with a warm smile, knowing it would please the other. It did.

Tamaki turned to his bespectacled friend. "Hey, Kyoya, what are _we_ doing for that?"

He got a sigh in response. "If you paid any attention in class, maybe you'd know—"

Kaoru looked at his project partner who was fiddling with her fingers and probably waiting for her turn to speak. That would never come if she didn't just interject and _say_ something. He knew from experience that these guys can go on forever—himself included, of course. He sighed too. "Don't you guys have customers to get to?" he interrupted.

Kyoya smirked, fixing his glasses again. "Quite right. I'm sure Miyuki has come here for Kaoru as her classmate, not a host." Tamaki and Hunny whined but were ignored. "Just don't take too long, Kaoru. You and Hikaru have clients too." With that, he walked off to resume whatever it was he was doing earlier.

Tamaki followed his lead while Hunny required a little probing (and pulling) from Mori. Hikaru pulled his twin to him instead. "You're not suggesting I do this _alone_ , are you?" His voice was low and seductive, making his words sound naughtier than it was.

"Hikaru, stop," his twin replied, looking away but not putting any distance between them, much to the glee of onlookers. "People can see us..."

He smirked. "Let them look, Kaoru." He finally released the other from his embrace and sighed audibly. "Later, then."

The girl in disguise had deadpanned next to Miyuki and muttered in disbelief, "Seriously, girls are into that stuff?"

Miyuki giggled and watched as the last of the hosts finally left her and Kaoru to their own business. He walked towards and then past her. "Follow me." She did so obediently and they stood a little ways away from the main crowd. Kaoru leaned and rested his weight against the wall. "What is it?"

The timid girl nodded and then searched her pockets before pulling out a familiar phone. His phone. "Y-you left it at the library, Kaoru-kun." She held it out to him, eyes looking everywhere else again. Especially the floor. That was a nice floor.

"Oh. Thank you." Kaoru took the phone from her. But she wasn't looking back at him—which was really starting to nag at something in his head. He thought he was used to girls behaving differently around him but she just... Huffing, he stood properly. "And I thought I told you there's no need to be so formal with me."

Miyuki only lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug and was about to say goodbye when she felt something warm on her face. She froze and stared at the boy. K-Kaoru was touching her cheek! Then his hand moved to tuck her right side-locks behind her ear. That side was the most troublesome, constantly hiding her face from full view. The left side was more of a frame than a curtain so he left it the way it was.

"I think that's the first time I can actually see all of your face, Miyuki." Kaoru smiled, laughing. Miyuki blushed harder, if that was even possible, and tried to look away. But the boy merely guided her to face him again. "I'm serious! You should wear your hair like that more often... I like it."

Miyuki blinked at him, wondering if he knew the effect he had on her. And if he did know, did he know why? Did he realize her feelings for him were still strong or thought her just another fangirl? She wondered if she should try and confess again.

"O-okay."

What was _that_?!

No, _no_ , this was good... She had almost blurted out her biggest secret ever.

Kaoru smirked at her obedient behaviour and stepped away from her. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

The girl could only nod. "Bye, Kaoru-ku—" He cleared his throat. "Oh. Uhm... Kaoru. Bye, Kaoru." It felt a little odd to address him without the honorific suddenly but she guessed it did make them more casual. Maybe then she wouldn't get so flustered.

Kaoru smiled and then walked away to resume his host duties. As she watched him saunter off, she realized the few pairs of eyes that had turned her way. Whoops. She nodded to acknowledge Mori as he walked past, her hair falling over her face again.

This time, she didn't leave it there. This time, she moved those locks back behind her ear as Kaoru had done for her.

The next day, Miyuki decided to go with his suggestion and used a cute little white hair clip to keep her side-locks in place. That wasn't the only thing she did to earn points with her crush though. After dinner that night, she worked on a better design for the fliers, something more interesting. And at school, she subconsciously walked with more confidence.

The Hitachiins arrived before her that morning and settled into their seats, talking about no particular subject.

So when Miyuki entered the classroom, she immediately spotted her project partner. Putting her bag at her table, she went over to him. By the window as usual, right? "Kaoru?"

Both boys looked up but the one by the window smiled wider at her. "Hi, Miyuki," they greeted simultaneously. Then Kaoru continued with a knowing smile, "I like your hair."

"Yeah, you actually have a cute face," Hikaru added and he looked like he meant it.

Fiddling with her fingers, she thanked them. Then she pulled out a piece of folded paper to hand to Kaoru—and judging by their lack of objections, she was pretty sure she had guessed right. He took it from her and looked at it before turning back to her without unfolding it. Excitedly, she opened her mouth to explain. "It's—"

"Miyuki-chan! Is that a love letter?!" someone from the opposite end of the classroom yelled.

Toki's confused voice sounded right after. "Eh? Another one?"

And just like that, chaos ensued.

"You mean she’s confessed before?!"

"I knew it!"

"Someone told me she answered Kaoru's phone for him yesterday!"

Really, people had _no_ sense of privacy... Miyuki was becoming more and more flustered with each person that joined the commotion, her earlier courage draining much too soon. "H-hey, it's not like that!" she cried desperately as they began to crowd where she was. "This just about the project..." But she knew it was too late.

Even if they understood the piece of paper she gave Kaoru was a sketch for the bake sale fliers, her friend's big mouth revealed her old secret confession which led to more speculation on her feelings for the younger Hitachiin.

Speaking of whom... Hikaru and Kaoru seemed quite calm about the whole ordeal. Too calm. Miyuki had looked to them to maybe help her play the situation down but but they merely looked at each other. Then Kaoru looked at her too and that was when she realized.

He already knew.


	7. Confess

Thankfully, a teacher entered the class then and everyone went to their assigned seats. As Miyuki sat there, at the front, her mind was whirring. Like yesterday, she found she couldn't concentrate very well on the lessons. But her feelings were the direct opposite of that giddy excitement yesterday. Today, she was filled with dread.

 _He knew._  It was obvious by how unfazed he was by the supposedly "new" information—unless the twins were so very used to being confessed to. That seemed likely too.

In any case, the girl was about to find out. As soon as recess started, she went over to Kaoru with her head bowed in embarrassment. She stood in front of him, across his desk, her right hand gripping her left arm as if to keep it steady.

Kaoru had been about to get up when she appeared so he stopped, blinking at her. He had noticed her forlorn face during class but didn't understand it. It seemed it was about him? This confrontation wasn't really unexpected so he waited patiently for her to say her piece.

They didn't have an audience this time, save for the other Hitachiin was sitting at the next table, waiting too.

Miyuki paid him no mind though and got straight to the point. "You knew," she stated simply but softly, unable to meet his eyes. Seeing him nod, she couldn't stop herself from blurting, "How?"

Both boys shrugged. "To be honest, it was quite obvious." It was. It really was.

Maybe if they hadn't already known about her feelings two years ago, they might've not thought much of her awkward behaviour. It didn't really affect them. As evidence, the only thing that brought them together was the class project which Kaoru and Miyuki were partnered up for by chance.

"Not that..." Miyuki shook her head and then fiddled with her fingers. Great, did she really have to say it? And what if she was wrong? Though she was pretty sure she wasn't... "You knew I tried to co-confess to you before. I could tell..."

Kaoru fidgeted. "Oh. That." He looked at his brother who looked back silently.

"Did Hikaru tell you? O-or was it Toki? Because she promised she  _wouldn't_ and I really thought I could just let this die down unt—"

"Hey," the twins said together, turning their gazes back to the girl. Hikaru opened his mouth to explain what really happened that day but his brother beat him to the punch. "We just don't keep things from each other."

Hikaru looked at his brother again, slightly confused though he didn’t let it show.

Why didn't Kaoru just tell her the whole truth? That he had known all along? Kaoru was the one who found the letter because it was indeed placed in the right desk. The fact that they didn't keep secrets between them was the reason  _Hikaru_ knew, not the other way around.

Miyuki accepted it nonetheless, nodding her head and then shrugging. "I guess I should've known." She turned to walk away but was stopped.

"I hope this doesn't change anything." She looked at the speaker in surprise but Kaoru simply smiled gently. "You're still my partner, right, partner?"

Two spots of pink appeared on both her cheeks then. D-did he mean that? She hadn't even thought about how this would affect them ‘professionally’ but the fact that he was the first to mention it and even making sure they were okay... it made her feel all warm, reminding her of her feelings once again.

Why did he have to be so sweet? Miyuki nodded, not trusting her mouth to not say anything stupid.

Then she rushed out of the room to join her friends.

Hikaru poked his brother's arm. "Hey. What was that, Kao? What’s the point of sparing her feelings like that?" The younger twin shrugged, making Hikaru squint his golden brown eyes suspiciously. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were close to  _flirting_ with her at the end there..."

Kaoru didn't answer, didn't deny it. Instead, he stood and nodded his head to the classroom exit before walking.

"Wait..." murmured the other, following behind him as they maneuvered between the rows of seats and tables. "You don't have feelings for her, do you?" he asked, sounding sceptical.

"Hikaru, give it a rest." Kaoru rolled his eyes. They were finally in the hallway now, walking past other students and other students walking past them. He couldn't have his twin spouting his mouth off, in case someone heard.

Hikaru inhaled sharply. "Kaoru!" He did have enough sense to lower his voice though. "You  _do_ , don't you?"

Kaoru was starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable. But he didn't find it as hard as his brother in owning up to one's feelings—to the other anyway. Looking around, he made sure no one could hear him and when he finally answered, he only whispered, "Maybe."

For that, he was given a look of disbelief.

Why though? Instilled with a sense of superiority they may be, they did realize they were people too. And people were prone to liking others romantically. But... they had always felt the same about everything; one of the reasons it was so hard to tell them apart. For one to develop feelings on his own was just weird, in Hikaru's opinion.

Kaoru himself had a different train of thought. Wasn't it about time they became less dependent on each other? He loved his brother and how they got along so well, almost never needing to speak to share their thoughts because they were so similar, but... they were  _individuals_ , weren't they?

Although he was able to (sort of) admit it to his twin, he couldn't do that yet to the actual subject of his affections.

To be fair though, he was still trying to figure it out himself anyway. Maybe he was just flattered that Miyuki had turned down Hikaru for him two years ago? Maybe he liked that she reacted differently? As if her feelings were genuine…

He pondered this while they finalized the design of the fliers at the library again. Miyuki was doing most of the actual drawing part and he thought she looked quite cute when she was so focused on something. And now with her bangs pulled back, her fair features stood out more.

The girl only realized she was being stared at when she finished and tried to slide it across the table to Kaoru. She blinked at him, feeling heat rise to her face. "Hm? Kaoru? I-is there something on my face?" Lowering her head, she wiped her face with the back of her hand. How embarrassing!

"You just had a smudge of ink on your nose," he lied smoothly, chuckling a little. His eyes moved on to the piece of paper in front of him.

They had decided to go with Miyuki's latest idea, the design she had tried to show him earlier that morning before someone misinterpreted. So all that was left when they met up again later was the finishing touches which she just, well, finished.

Kaoru smiled. It was truly not a bad piece of work. His mother being a clothing designer, he grew up knowing what would appeal to the public eye. "It looks great. You're pretty good at this, Miyuki."

The compliment had an immediate effect on Miyuki, making her blush. "Th-thank you... Uhm, we should find a place to print—"

"Sorry, but can we walk and talk? I should get going." He was already standing by then so the girl followed his lead and they quickly made for the Host Club, discussing the details of printing on their way.

Once they got there though, Hikaru immediately rushed towards them. "Took you two long enough... I sure hope you weren't doing anything you shouldn't." He smirked.

The other twin swore he would’ve facepalmed himself if there weren’t anyone else around. Damn it, Hikaru better not keep teasing about this in public... Rather than scowl like he wanted to, Kaoru smiled knowingly and leaned forward a little. "Being naughty is your forte, Hikaru."

"Hm, I wouldn't mind teaching you some of my tricks, Kaoru," the other replied, playing along. Girls at a nearby table squealed in excitement.

Both boys smirked. After they said goodbye to Miyuki, Hikaru took his brother's hand and pulled him towards their fans.

In their place, Kyoya stood before her then. "Miyuki."

The girl gasped loudly. She had been carelessly watching Kaoru and almost forgot where she was... Sheepishly, she smiled to the raven-haired boy. "H-hello, Kyoya-senpai."

He smiled back. "I have a preposition for you. Would that be okay?"

"Uhm... okay..." She nodded, her fingers coming together in her nervousness.

Kyoya chuckled and softened his gaze—he knew he could be intimidating sometimes. That came in handy often, especially with the other hosts, but he had a feeling that wasn't the right way with Miyuki if he were to get what he wanted. "It's regarding your family's hotel in Okinawa."


	8. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took so long ewrcobmwebtweyk sorry

The Kaze Hotel in Okinawa was a newly opened one by Miyuki's older sister who also happened to be the heir of the Kazehaya family. Stubborn as a mule, Manami wasn't a big fan of publicity stunts which was what she would've considered Kyoya's proposal to be.

_ "How would Kaze Hotel like to be a sponsor for a school club trip? The Ouran High School Host Club is planning to organize an outing for the clients to spend a weekend with the hosts by the beach in Okinawa. The hotel would provide lodging and services at a lower price and give the club exclusive access to the beach nearby for the first day. In return, this allows the clients, most of which coming from wealthy families, a taste of Kaze Hotel services. A win-win situation, don’t you think!" _

Absolutely  _ crazy _ ! But it was her baby sister who did the talking instead, though she used the Shadow King's words like a middle person. Manami thought it over seriously. Usually, she wouldn't even bother entertaining ideas from a teenager but this was her  _ sister _ .

"Come on, Manami! I trust Kyoya-senpai," she insisted over a Skype call that night. "I wouldn't relay his idea if I didn't think it was any good."

Eating a late dinner then, Manami tapped her chopsticks together and hummed. "I don't get why you're so eager about this. I didn't even realize Host Clubs would be your kind of thing."

The younger girl blushed. "They're not. Kyoya-senpai approached me—"

"Then he's using you."

"Is not! He's nice!"

"All hosts are, stupid. That’s pretty much their job," Manami retorted, rolling her eyes. Her little sister was always so quick to trust others.

Okay, maybe that was true but Miyuki wasn't about to back down. She liked when people included her in plans; one of the reasons her friends could easily drag her to do crazy things. Her sister knew of this trait too. Miyuki pouted. "You're just too cautious, Manami."

The other girl gasped sharply and slammed her chopsticks onto her tabletop, cheeks red. "So are  _ you _ , Miyuki!" Grr, that kid always knew just how to get her riled up! Manami had been told before how she always played it safe and how that made her predictable. The business world was cruel. "Hmph, though I think the word  _ timid  _ fits you better..."

Miyuki whined. "Please? I  _ know  _ it's good idea. I'll get to hang out with my friends too—they're all clients of the club!"

"Isn't that Kaoru of yours a host too?" Manami quirked an eyebrow, the corner of her lips being tugged upwards. The silence she got in response made her fully smirk. "Make sure you wear something decent." Seeing the other glare made her laugh. "I know, I know... I'm not worried about you. You don't have the nerve to do anything like seduce or flirt with him. It's him I'm not so sure about."

"He's nice, Manami."

"You think everyone is."

"He's sweet a-and genuine and funny and gr—"

"Stop! Stop!" She pretended to gag but then smiled. "I get it, you love him. Don't remind me." The sisters laughed before Manami became more serious. "I just meant, don't let him manipulate you. Don't fall for  _ anyone's  _ tricks."

Miyuki sighed in mock exasperation. "If I promise not to, would you agree to let the Host Club book the beach?"

"Hm, I don't know..."

" _ Manami _ !"

"Kidding!" The elder girl laughed again. "Alright. Tell your friend to contact me for details."

And that was what Miyuki did as soon as they ended their call, sending Kyoya a text message. Him and Manami must've made the arrangements swiftly because that very weekend, Miyuki found herself in a limousine, sitting between friends and a packed luggage bag on her lap, headed for the Kaze Hotel in Okinawa.

The girls were all very excited, Akira and Misako hugging Miyuki suffocatingly in their appreciation.

Then they checked into the hotel (which all the girls found to be pretty impressive), changed into their swimsuits, and made for the hotel's private section of the beach.

And what a beach it was. White sand, clear waters, sea breeze... everyone loved it.

Apparently, the hosts hadn't realized until recently that their clients would be joining them but they settled into their roles pretty quickly.

Tamaki had a line of girls waiting to have one-on-one time with him—which was organized by Kyoya, of course. The Hitachiins were playing volleyball, "flirting" with each other and the girls while they were at it. Haruhi simply sat on a mat under an umbrella, watching the others. Mori and Hunny were... doing yoga? Swimming exercises? Something.

Miyuki had been busy observing the twins since she spotted them.  _ Hm _ ... Kaoru was the one in the black and purple swimming trunks, Hikaru in the red and black. Yes, she made up her mind. Looking at him shirtless made her blush but she couldn't  _ resist  _ looking. He looked so good!

The sound of fangirls giggling as Hikaru chased his brother along the shoreline brought Miyuki back to reality.

That was right... Kaoru was here to entertain the guests. Truthfully, the reason she never went to the Host Club was her heart couldn't bear to see her crush flirt with another girl.  But she had no right to him either so that only hurt more. She looked away from the scene they were making.

Toki noticed this and frowned but she quickly plastered on a smile. "Come on, Miyuki! Let's go talk to Haruhi-kun!"

Akira and Misako followed her lead and linked arms with their more timid friend, dragging her over to where one of the hosts sat.

"Uhm, Haruhi?" began Akira.

The brunette turned around and Miyuki forced herself to focus. Hm, Haruhi wasn't in her swimming gear... While this made sense to all the other hosts, the clients didn't understand so they thought it would be a good idea to approach him.

Toki leaned forward cutely. "Aren't you going to go swimming with us?"

"No, I, uh... I like looking at the sea from a safe distance," she explained.

"Well, if you're not going to swim, would you mind if we sat here and talked with you?" Misako gave a sweet smile with her suggestion.

Haruhi's eyes seemed to shine as she smiled back. "Why? You girls should go swim. You've got cute swimsuits on, why not show them off?"

The girls swooned and even Miyuki felt a little flattered by the compliment but the way the host looked somewhat surprised by the reaction made her giggle. Her friends said their okay-s and went off into the water with a skip in their step.

Miyuki had explained to them that she had wanted to ask Haruhi something so she stayed behind and sat with the girl in disguise on the mat.

"You're not joining them, Miyuki-chan?" Haruhi blinked at her. Hm, that swimsuit looked familiar... After a bit of memory searching, she realized it was the blue one-piece that Hunny had suggested she wore earlier—before they realized they wouldn't be taking the day off after all.

Miyuki shook her head. "Haruhi-kun... I have a question."

"Is it about Kaoru?" Seeing the visible blush, Haruhi chuckled. "Yeah, I think everyone knows by now. I'm sorry."

The other pulled up her legs to tuck her embarrassed face in the gap between her knees. "Ugh..." After a minute, she looked up, turning her head. "I just wanted to know i-if Kaoru-kun is annoyed by me. I mean, he seems like he isn't and he acts very casual with me but I don't know... Has he said anything to you?"

"Well, no... But I don't think he would tell me, if he felt that way."

Miyuki stood and smiled sheepishly before bowing lightly. "Uhm... please don't tell Kaoru-kun I asked this." She realized Kaoru was more likely to tell his true feelings to his brother but she couldn't very well ask  _ Hikaru _ —that would be weird, right?

Haruhi stopped her before she turned away. "Hey, don't think about it too much, okay? Just have fun today." She gave that signature smile that everyone seemed to love, hoping it would have the same effect on this girl.

Nodding, the black-haired girl smiled back though it didn't quite reach her eyes. She joined her friends in the water and they quite easily got her mind off things as they played around.

When they got tired, they went back to walking around the beach. In short, it was a very full day and Miyuki honestly had a lot of fun. Sure, she never once bumped into Kaoru, who always seemed to be around other girls, much less hear him confess his love to her—not that she was hoping for it—but it was a good day, nonetheless.

As the sun started to set, the four friends climbed to a high point on some rocks to watch the view.

"There's a pretty good view down there too," Misako pointed out with a giggle.

All four followed her gaze to sea Haruhi picking up a shellfish and putting it into a bucket. Akira called out to her, "Up here, Haruhi!"

"What's up?" Misako giggled again when the host did look up.

"The breeze up here feels great!" Toki commented, waving enthusiastically.

"It's dangerous," reminded Haruhi. "Be careful!"

She was right, of course, but Miyuki was confident they wouldn't do anything stupid way up here. Her friends weren't that crazy. The breeze blew through the girls' hairs.

"This feels so good." Miyuki breathed in deeply, enjoying it. Her sister sure knew how to pick places.


	9. Friends and Foes

"Hey, there are chicks up there, man!"

The voice made the girls turn around to the source of it with a gasp. Two strangers had climbed up the same way they did and started walking towards them. "Aren't we lucky?" commented the second who wore a hoodie.

The first boy, the one in shorts, threw an empty can over the side of the rocks. "You ladies want to hang out with a couple of locals?"

The girls huddled together but Akira stepped forward protectively. "No, thanks. Please, just leave us al—" She was cut off as her hand was grabbed by one of the boys. Miyuki felt her hand being gripped nervously by Misako next to her.

"Aw, come on," the other one said. "We just want to show you girls how to have a good ti—"

He was cut off too, by Toki this time. "This is a private beach today. You guys are not allowed to be here."

" _Private_?" What the one in the hoodie said next was lost on them as he wrapped his arms around them, making them cry out in fear.

Miyuki, who had been tucked between Toki and Misako, squirmed out. She tried to take that opportunity of surprise to run away but was grabbed by the waist by the other stranger. She cried out again, trying to push him away. "My sister owns this place. I'm getting security!"

He opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a yell and he suddenly released the two girls who fell with the force. They looked up to see the stranger rubbing his back which was turned to them as he spun around to see who had hit him.

Haruhi was some distance away with her now empty bucket of shellfish. "Why don't you quit bothering them?!" she shot. "Weren't you jerks listening? You better just leave them alone."

"Haruhi!" Akira cheered, thanking her lucky stars.

The stranger wasn't as happy. He scowled. "You little runt!"

Miyuki tried to get up but a sharp pain shot up her leg. Akira noticed this and told her not to move. "A-Akira... Go get help."

The other girl nodded and ran past the stranger and Haruhi to find someone.

Back on the rock, the stranger had grabbed Haruhi by the shirt and was steadily backing her to the edge of the rock—just a few more steps and she could easily be tipped over.

And that was exactly what he did to her.

The girls screamed and a male's voice cried out Haruhi's name before Tamaki flashed past Miyuki's eyes and immediately dove into the water after his friend.

Seeing that, the trespasser called for his friend to scram. Toki and Misako rushed towards Miyuki as soon as they were let go. The men tried to run too but Miyuki grabbed the foot of the one closest to her, making him fall. He kicked her away and his friend helped him up.

It was too late though because the only way down was blocked by three other boys—Akira must've gotten help.

Kyoya folded his arms across his chest and nodded to the twins. Given permission, the Hitachiins didn't hesitate to lunge at the hostile strangers.

The raven-haired boy went to the girls. "Go. Get back to the hotel."

Miyuki nodded. She put her arms over her friends who helped her up and walked on either side of her. Climbing down was particularly a hassle but they managed. They passed hotel security on their way and one officer helped her the rest of the way back.

Toki and Misako went to their rooms after leaving their injured friend with a nurse in the hotel's mini medical office. It was just a slight ankle sprain but she had to stay there for a while.

Hearing what had happened, Akira brought Miyuki's jacket from her room to her before going to dinner. When the nurse left too, Miyuki called her sister to tell her what had happened and they had a good long chat before being interrupted.

Someone knocked on the door so she called for them to enter. Kaoru did. He was in an orange sleeveless shirt and greenish beige pants now. He looked good, as always, but more than that... he looked concerned.

Miyuki blushed. "Uhm, I have to go, Manami." She hung up without waiting for a response. Oh great... She realized she couldn't turn her body very much because her bandaged foot was propped up on a pillow on the bench opposite her so she ended up looking over her shoulder awkwardly. "H-hi, Kaoru."

"Hey..." He closed the door behind him (which made the girl inhale sharply) and sat on the bench, in the space next to her foot and across from her so they faced each other. He tried to grin. "How did you know it was me?"

"You're just more likely to visit me than Hikaru-kun," she explained with a blush, mentally reprimanding herself for assuming it was Kaoru in the first place. Being wrong would've been extremely embarrassing—like two years ago.

He nodded, feeling only a little disheartened. He had hoped for a more _profound_ answer but this made sense so... Whatever. He came to check up on her, not test her. Hikaru thought he went to the restroom though. "I heard you were in here. What happened?"

"Those boys earlier... I fell and kind of sprained my ankle." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "How's Haruhi-kun?"

"He's okay. He's tough so..."

"Right. Uhm... and you?"

Kaoru gave a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think it's safe to say you should be more worried about _those_ guys." She laughed too, covering her mouth a little with the back of her hand. So he knew it was a sincere laugh. He smiled warmly. "They deserved it."

"Kyoya-senpai looked like a yakuza boss, standing there then." She thought about it, laughing again and forgetting to be flustered, for a moment.

"Really, I'm glad you're okay though, Miyuki."

"Th-thanks..." That simple line brought all her self-consciousness back, making her cheeks pink and her fingers fiddle with each other. After all, her bare legs were stretched out before him since she was still in her swimsuit. Then there was that bandaged foot right next to him. Add in the fact that he looked so good right then! Did he even realize how sweet and amazing he was?

The ginger hesitated. "Miyuki—"

"Guess who brought food?!"

The door burst open to reveal three girls—Toki, Akira, and Misako who was carrying a plate of seafood and rice. They froze in the doorway just like how Kaoru had frozen partway through leaning towards Miyuki. The two parties stared at each other.

"U-uh, sorry!" Akira cried frantically.

Kaoru stood calmly as if he had been meaning to all along. "No, it's fine. I was worried about you guys too. Is everything okay?"

Hearing his concern for the others, the black-haired girl looked down at her hands. She couldn't tell if she was disheartened or even more in love with his caring attitude.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Toki insisted in a high pitched voice.

Misako lifted the plate in her hands, the first to recover from the shock of seeing their most timid friend alone with a boy—her crush too, no less! Lucky girl... "We thought we might bring Miyuki-chan her dinner and eat with her because she has to stay here."

"How sweet of you." Kaoru smiled charmingly, looking away with a slight blush. "You remind me of my brother. Hikaru would never leave me alone in bed... sick." That subtle pause did it, left to interpretation and their interpretation made the three squeal internally. He smirked in his head. Easy peasy. "Speaking of whom, I should get back to him."

"Oh, wait, Kaoru!" Toki tapped her chin, trying to remember what it was she had to say. "Uhm, Kazukiyo said something earlier..."

Misako sighed. "Toki, you idiot." So much for that sweetness... Then she smiled. "Kazukiyo texted Toki to tell you two that Momoka-chan told him that her oven broke." That was a mouthful.

"Since the bake sale is in two days, she needs someone to bake the cakes tomorrow," Akira explained with a nod. "And since you're the only group left without anything to do, Momoka-chan asked if you can do it."

Groaning dramatically, Toki put her hands on her hips. "How I got partnered up with someone who makes last-minute excuses and tells someone else is beyond me." Momoka was her partner but she talked a lot more with Kazukiyo which frustrated Toki to no end. She flipped her over her shoulder with a small _hmph_.

Miyuki giggled softly. "I'm sure she didn't do this on purpose, Toki. Besides, it's no trouble. I can do it."

"Sorry, baking is not a skill I possess," stated Kaoru, hands in his pockets as he looked to her.

"That's okay, Kaoru. I can manage by myself."

The girls were about to offer their help when Kaoru spoke a little too quickly. "No way!" He cleared his throat to regain his composure. "You're injured and anyway, we're partners, Miyuki. I'll figure it out. Where can we do this?"

Behind his back, Miyuki's friends were making exaggerated faces to her—they ranged from comical to full-on embarrassing.

But when the boy turned to look at them, they went right back to pretending to be “normal”. He looked back at the black-haired girl who was blushing again.

"Okay, uhm... I'm sure my sister would let us use the kitchen here for a while..."

Getting hired help would defeat the whole purpose so everyone in Class 1-A had agreed earlier to do everything themselves.

"Great. We can bake them in the morning and go home after lunch, just as planned." Kaoru patted the top of Miyuki's head. "I'll see you tomorrow." He waved to the other girls who said their goodbyes too and left the room.

They waited a few seconds for him to get out of earshot before squealing excitedly to Miyuki—though he still actually managed to hear a little at first.


	10. Fun

After dinner, her friends went to their rooms. They offered to help Miyuki walk but she insisted on going to talk with Kyoya alone first. She wanted to apologize on behalf of the Kazehaya family since he was considered the representative of today's group. Well, it should be Tamaki but the Shadow King seemed like the one who was really handling things...

So she limped to where she knew his room was and lifted her hand to knock on the door. What she heard then made her stop though.

"If you want to, you can pay me back with your body."

Miyuki had a pretty good sense of hearing and could identify voices quite easily after hearing it long enough—one of the reasons she could differentiate the twins, maybe. The voice she heard through the door then was Kyoya's. It would make sense too, considering this was his room. But those words…

She heard a cry and ruffle of sheets.

Not sure what to do so she ended up not doing anything but stand there. After a while, she recognized another voice from the room—Haruhi's. But the way the two were talking was strange and too out of context. The longer she listened though, the more she understood.

Tamaki was upset with Haruhi for confronting those men earlier.

Because Haruhi was a girl.

Ha-Haruhi was a  _ girl _ ?

Before she could react though, she heard footsteps and turned her head to see Tamaki walking down the empty hallway in her direction. She didn't know why but she hurriedly ran away before he could see her.

"Kyoya..." Without knocking, Tamaki turned the doorknob and walked into the room. "Do you have any lotion? That sun-burn is worse than I—"

Miyuki had been hiding around the corner, out of breath from the sudden run. At least she hardly noticed her sprained ankle which either meant it was healing quickly or she had just been running on adrenaline.

Her back against the wall, she slid down until she rested on the floor so she could steady her breathing. Her stamina really was terrible.

"Hello, Miyuki."

Surprised, she hurriedly tried to get to her feet again which was a bad idea because she immediately fell again.

Kyoya caught her, though it made her wince. He slung one of her arms over his shoulder and helped her to the ledge of a window for her to sit. Blushing, she was extremely self-conscious of the fact she was still only in a swimsuit and jacket. "S-sorry, senpai..."

"For being a bother which you are not, by the way, or for eavesdropping?" he asked much too calmly.

"How did you know?" Miyuki bowed her head.

"It only makes sense." Kyoya sat down next to her, running the fingers of one hand through his still-damp black hair. "You're out of breath, indicating you ran from somewhere, which would be stupid due to your ankle. You're not a stupid girl, Miyuki, but you can be silly. Like, say, if you heard something you probably shouldn't."

The girl scratched her cheek awkwardly. "That's... specific." They sat together in silence for a while before she cleared her throat. She knew he was waiting for her to say something because otherwise, he would've gone by now. "So Haruhi is a girl."

The way she said it sounded more like a statement than an answer so Kyoya knew there was no point in convincing her otherwise. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "I trust you won't tell anyone, yes?"

"I won't. But..." She shrugged. "I've been told I'm terrible at keeping secrets."

"No." Kyoya smirked then. "I think you'd really try with this one. Even without me telling you why Haruhi is in disguise, you've already agreed not to reveal it."

Miyuki fiddled with her fingers. "Y-yeah, I don't know why." She shrugged then. Maybe she just knew there would be a good reason.

"Because you're changing. Kaoru must be a good influence on you."

The mention of her crush sent her cheeks flaring. "No offense, senpai, but you never knew me before," she said in an attempt to save some dignity—and  _ not  _ make this about that auburn-haired boy.

Kyoya smirked again. "Miyuki, I know everyone." Which wasn't ominous at all. Nope. "I know you used to be much too timid to even think of visiting a boy at his hotel room at night, whatever the reason. Now look at you." He chuckled. "Kaoru has changed you, brought you out of your shell."

"No one changed me," she insisted with conviction. "I just… wanted to be better." Whether that change was for someone else or herself was still up for debate but she refused to completely credit her newfound confidence to another person.

"Yes, I guess that's true too," he mused in reply, actually smiling. He stood. "Come on, I'll help you to your room."

Miyuki accepted his offer, not wanting to worsen her ankle. Remembering this evening's incident, she quickly said, "And, uhm, on behalf of my family and the hotel, I'm sorry about those trespassers earlier."

"I know." Despite his eyes remaining unreadable, the grip around her waist tightened slightly. To a third party, they might actually look like a pair of siblings with their similar features. The black hair, the brown eyes…

In fact, Miyuki kind of saw him as older brother for some reason. Maybe it was how easily he read her though she was sure he was like that with everyone. So maybe it was how easily she could read him too. Maybe it was both of these. In addition, despite his kindness, she couldn't see him in a romantic light, not for her anyway.

Because her heart had been with someone else for much too long to change. Even the thought of seeing him again excited her. Granted, she knew he wasn't perfect but she loved his flaws as part of who he was.

He proved his imperfection the next day.

Kaoru wasn't kidding when he said he didn't know how to make a cake... Miyuki probably could've done everything faster on her own, especially since her sprain was completely better then, but one thing was for sure; she wouldn't have had as much fun.

Even teaching him was an experience because he kept making jokes and eating all the time.

Like the first time they opened a bag of flour. The girl had slipped and spilled a good portion of it on the floor, herself falling with it. Kaoru helped her up and while she washed her face, rather than help clean up the mess, he drew patterns in the spilled flour on the floor.

Then when she showed him how to handle the fondant, he cut out little moustaches and the like to put on their faces—right before he ate them.

Right then, they had just put the first batch of cakes in the oven. They still had plenty more to do though. Miyuki closed the oven door and turned around to see her partner sitting on the tabletop, spraying whipped cream into his mouth straight from the can.

"I think Hunny-senpai is rubbing off on me," he told her after swallowing.

Giggling, she went over to sit on one of the bar stools. There were a few others littered around the kitchen but no, Kaoru wanted to sit on the table. He was so cute.

They had the kitchen to themselves so there was no one around to reprimand them. Still, they kept the noise to a minimum because the hotel staff were using the kitchen right next to the one they were in.

"You're going to finish that before we even start decorating, Kaoru." But she was smiling anyway. His mischievousness was contagious and she found herself picking a cherry from a bowl and putting it into her mouth, biting off the stem.

Kaoru shrugged at her. "We can always buy more."

Miyuki shrugged too. "We don't have to if— Hey!"

The boy had taken the bowl of cherries from her and ate them himself. "Do we really need so many condiments for a school bake sale?" he asked slyly, sliding a cherry into his mouth. "We could just eat them instead, you know." He sprayed whipped cream into his mouth again.

"Isn't all that too sweet?"

"Nothing's too sweet, my dear Miyuki." He winked then which made the girl blush which made  _ him  _ chuckle. "Come on, try it!"

Miyuki thought about it and then nodded, holding out her hand for the can of whipped cream. To her surprise, the boy shook his head. "Nu-uh. I'll do it for you so you don't mess up. All first experiences must be good or you'll never try again. Open up!"

In a different context, that might've sounded more meaningful. He slid off the table and stood in front of her, shaking the can. The girl was a little surprised but shyly did as she was told. This close, Kaoru seemed to tower over her though they were probably only an inch apart.

He held the can above her mouth and gripped her chin lightly to steady her head.

Then he sprayed whipped cream onto the tip of her nose.

With a gasp, the smaller girl pushed his arm away. Thankfully, Kaoru had taken his finger off the nozzle as he laughed.

Like everything else about him, it was contagious and Miyuki laughed too. She grabbed the spray can from his loose fingers and sprayed whipped cream at his face too. It wasn't much though because Kaoru swiftly grabbed her hand to stop her, laughing the whole time.

They were very close now, Miyuki realized with an accelerated heart beat. She kept forgetting to be more self-conscious around him but she hadn't decided if that was good or bad yet. He didn't seem to care—or even notice, really. If she just leaned in a little, their lips could meet... She stared at his lips and this, he did notice.

Kaoru stilled and waited for her to make a move. He wanted her to, wanted her to take this chance to kiss him. Would she?


	11. Jealousy

"What the heck happened here?"

The two jumped apart and turned their gazes to the kitchen entrance where Haruhi stood with her mouth agape at the scene—at the spilled flour, the stray strands of whipped cream at their feet, the cherries littering the table where they had scattered from the toppled bowl…

The rest of the club were close behind her. Eyebrow twitching, Haruhi pinched the bridge of her nose. "Honestly, you rich people have no idea what you're doing..." She sighed.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kaoru deadpanned, only a hint of annoyance shining through.

"Hika-chan said you were making cake here!" exclaimed Hunny, wearing a cute little apron. He rushed into the room but was lifted into the air by his arms. Mori picked him up easily before he could step on the mess and he settled the smaller boy onto his shoulders.

Tamaki stepped forward next, pointing his finger at them all dramatic-like. "We are here to help! It is our duty to assist our fellow hosts as well as keep our clients happy!"

"I-I am not a client, Tamaki-senpai, so you don't have to..." Miyuki stammered out softly.

Kaoru glared at his brother, struggling to contain his irritation. "What the hell, Hikaru?"

The other ginger raised his hands in surrender. "I just told them you were busy and they decided to butt in." He glared too but at Tamaki, muttering, "You know how the boss gets."

"H-hey, Haruhi wanted to help out too," the blonde said defensively.

"Because Hikaru and I are actually  _ part  _ of this class, senpai," retorted the girl in question, placing her hands on her sides. She smiled to Miyuki. "Could we maybe do our batch here too, Miyuki-chan? We'll pay you back, of course. I'd just rather not exhaust my own oven..."

"O-oh..." The other girl fiddled with her fingers, remembering that this boy was actually a _girl_.  Wouldn't it be kind of awkward because she knew the secret? Did the others know she did? It seemed not.

But Miyuki was actually looking forward to spending some alone time with Kaoru. Before everyone arrived, she was actually having fun…

While she was babbling in her head, Kyoya had watched the scene in silence behind everyone else. Seeing her in awkward distress urged Kyoya to walk towards her and he gently placed his hand on top of her head. "I'm sorry, Miyuki, but even I can't stop them when they're this determined." This was spoken from experience too. He rolled up his sleeves. "It'll be fine. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can finish."

Miyuki stared up at him, fiddling with her fingers in hesitation. But eventually, she nodded. "Okay, Kyoya-senpai. I'll, uhm, get the list of everything we need to get done." She forced herself to brighten up and searched the ridiculously messy tabletop for the written list.

Kaoru blinked at their little exchange, wondering when exactly they started getting so friendly. He knew the only reason this weekend getaway at Kaze Hotel was possible at all was because Kyoya made a good deal with the older Kazehaya sister through Miyuki. That was just professional, right?

She'd always been crazy timid so how come she was acting all— _Stop it._  Kaoru  shook his head lightly, as if he could physically remove this strange feeling that way. He had no right to be jealous—which he wasn't.

After being given the list, the raven-haired boy fixed the position of his glasses and went over the itinerary swiftly. He nodded once and started instructing everyone what to do. It seemed... louder now with so many in the kitchen but everyone worked well with each other. Miyuki helped around wherever she could but when she finally decided to take a break, she noticed something.

Hikaru was struggling to roll out the fondant and complained about it. Rolling her eyes, Haruhi went to help him and showed him how to do it. Kaoru had been sitting on a bar stool across where his brother worked, saying something that made them both laugh. But there was something in that smile they both gave Haruhi.

Something that made Miyuki realize what jealousy felt like.

She had never been very sad when Kaoru was with another girl because they were usually a Host Club client and he always went back to Hikaru anyway. But that smile he gave Haruhi had a lot of warmth in it, more than she'd ever seen her give a client, making it genuine.

Now that she knew Haruhi was a girl, she realized what that smile meant. Kaoru truly cared for Haruhi—as more than a friend. And it broke Miyuki's heart.

She excused herself to the restroom and cried for the first time since two years ago, since she was told that Kaoru had a crush on someone else. While she knew it couldn't have been Haruhi because she only started attending Ouran Academy this year, it brought those feelings of heartache back.

But the girl wiped away her tears, washed her face and steadied her breathing before returning to the kitchen. She kept asking Kyoya for more and more work to keep herself busy, keep her mind busy and off the auburn-haired boy. Compartmentalizing did wonders, Kyoya didn't question it and complied. She was glad when they finished because she got to reunite with her friends and remain with them until they headed home.

Miyuki dreaded the next day because she knew it would only take a simple gesture for her to give in to her crush. Maybe even bring her walls down again with that charm of his.

How did he do that? It was so  _ unfair _ , how her feelings kept growing even if, in the end, they wouldn't be returned anyway. And as her partner, Kaoru would likely follow her around tomorrow because that was how he was. Sweet, amazing Kaoru…

_ Ugh. _

As she expected, this did happen. Kaoru found her first thing in the morning. She had forgotten to clip her side-locks in place so they kept falling over her right eye. So he had to go and be such a gentleman and help move her hair away from her face whenever this happened. And every time, she stammered a  _ thank you _ and blushed. Why did she have to be so weak around him?

All in all, the bake sale was a success. Students from other classes flocked to their booth and she got to see the other hosts. The fliers did good too, she'd like to think. Haruhi and Hikaru had to walk around, selling all kinds of baked goods and handing out fliers so at the end of the day, they finally returned to the booth. That was the only time Kaoru left her side.

Miyuki parted from him silently to go make sure no one forgot anything at the booth. She even had a checklist to go through.

She was checking something off the list on her clipboard when her partner crept up to her. Her hair had fallen over her face again when she looked down so Kaoru used a hand to gently tuck the strands behind her ear. It was almost like pulling open a curtain, he thought.

"Found you," he said teasingly. "I was wondering where you went off to."

Miyuki blushed at the tone he used. "H-hey, Kaoru." He was alone then.

He looked around at everyone cleaning up and nodded to himself. "So what you doing for summer break, Miyuki?"

Despite it being a spring festival, it was always held at the end of the season and right before the term break so students had more a reason to keep coming to school rather than celebrate their holiday early. It was pretty effective, if the attendance today was any indication.

"I'm just going to help my sister out with some hotel stuff or something..." She drifted off, looking away.

Kaoru frowned at the way she answered. "Hey, you're not trying to avoid hanging out with me, are you?"

The girl's brown eyes shot wide open as she frantically replied, "N- _ no _ ! Not at all!"

"Good," he said, laughing warmly. Though his face didn't change, his heart beat a little faster in his chest. "Because... I think I'll miss you over the summer, to be honest."

Miyuki's own heart accelerated too. Did he really mean that? They  _ had  _ been spending a lot of time together this past week…

Her lack of response made Kaoru clear his throat to break the growing silence and suggested casually, "We should keep in touch! I don't want you to forget me."

That was impossible, she thought, but she nodded in reply. "O-okay..." She saw something being slid onto her clipboard. It was a piece of paper, probably torn from the edge of a larger piece, and there was a number written on it. Surprised, she looked up at the one who put it there.

Kaoru smiled, hoping she didn't realize that he didn't have a pen with him then which meant he had likely been holding on to that for a while now. The whole day, to be exact but he decided not to mention that. "Hikaru is waiting for me so I should get to hi—"

"Wait, Kaoru!"

"Yeah?" He had been walking backwards the way he came but stopped when he was interrupted.

"What are  _ you  _ doing this holiday? Y-you’ll be free?" She started fiddling with her fingers.

He chuckled. "I'm not sure yet. Bye, Miyuki."

"Bye, Kaoru..."

He left and a smile grew on the girl's lips. Maybe she  _ could  _ do this. Even if she couldn't be his girlfriend, she would rather be a friend to him than nothing at all. Even if it broke her heart, because, she realized, he had the ability to mend it all over again and again. And she couldn't let that go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been. Forever. Sorry!


	12. Unexpected

Unfortunately for the two, they barely talked at the beginning of the summer break. Between being pulled to all kinds of events with her family and tiring nights, Miyuki barely found the time to work up the nerve to make use of the phone number she was given. Then again, this might just be an excuse. Every time she decided to send a text message or make a call, she was either interrupted or her courage failed her.

On his part, Kaoru couldn't very well call her himself. He gave her his number and left without waiting for her to do the same. It was up to her to make the next move.

He supposed he  _ could  _ have asked any one of his Host Club clients for her number in case they had a mutual friend somewhere. But he didn't want more rumours spreading. Bad enough that they already knew of her crush on him…

Maybe Kyoya would have her number. It was likely but for some reason, Kaoru didn't like the idea much.

Besides, why should  _ he  _ call her first? Maybe Miyuki just didn't want to keep in touch with him. That was a paranoid and unlikely reason, he realized, because he knew she liked him. She was probably busy. Yeah.

Unless she moved on.

The Hitachiins' summer wasn't as filled and the most notable thing about it started when Tamaki called them way too early one morning to panic about Haruhi being kidnapped or something because he couldn't reach her. Kyoya easily diffused the situation by explaining her whereabouts—Karuizawa.

And then somehow, the whole Host Club found themselves there and competing for the only empty room left in the Bed and Breakfast where Haruhi worked for her father's friend. The twins won that one but the others were expected to pop in to the establishment nonetheless.

It was hard to shake them off.

When Kaoru woke up the next day, he found himself on the floor so Hikaru had to spend the next hour apologizing.

The best part? They were  _ sure  _ they passed an empty-looking room on their way to the dining area downstairs. They made a mental note to ask the manager about that since Misuzu did say there were no other rooms available—this could've saved Kaoru a lot of pain.

They'd slept in the same bed before but never one so small. And with another room, they wouldn't need to get another bed from their family cottage in town.

They would soon find out, though, that the room was reserved for a certain Kazehaya.

While the twins and Tamaki were lounging in the dining area that morning (much too early for the other hosts), Haruhi had to go do a chore for Misuzu. It was just as well too because right then, Miyuki walked in through the entrance.

The cute little sundress and cardigan she wore were in direct contrast to the two intimidating men in suits who flanked her sides. "Try not to attract too much attention," she whispered to them with a soft giggle.

Misuzu rushed to meet them. "Hello and welcome!"

"Hi. I have a room reserved under Kazehaya?"

This made the hosts in the room turn their heads in time to see the young girl smile and bow politely.

"My sister made the arrangements. I'm Miyuki."

"Must be that vacant room we saw, Kao," Hikaru mused in a whisper.

The pension manager nodded and then looked pointedly at the two tell men behind his guest. "Uhm, will they be joining you, miss? I only reserved the one room for you." He pointed at them, not sure if he wanted such scary people around the place. They might scare away the customers! But he didn't want to upset the sweet little aristocrat either…

Miyuki giggled. "They don't talk much so I doubt they'll be very good company. No, I'm on my own here." She turned around to face her bodyguards. "Alright, I got here safely. You may leave the bags here."  


The two men looked at each other and then nodded, setting their young charge's luggage down next to her before leaving in a limousine. Miyuki was about to pick up the bags when Misuzu lightly slapped her hands away. "Oh, don't you dare, dear! I'll get someone to bring these up and show you to your room. Haru—"

"No!"

It was Misuzu and Miyuki's turn to look surprised. They looked to the source of the chorused outburst and Miyuki turned bright red in two seconds flat. Before either had a chance to react, the twins went over to them and picked up the bags.

"I mean, don't worry about it!" Kaoru insisted on her left, his voice sounding almost panicky.

Hikaru stood on her right, lifting a duffle bag easily. "Yeah, we can take these for you. What are friends for?"

That last sentence got the pension owner excited. "Oh, how refreshing! You know each other?" Not that he was so surprised, considering both families were quite well-off. It would make sense they were in the same circle.

Tamaki put an arm around Miyuki, laughing not very casually. "The twins and her are in the same class at school. Isn't that right?"

"Right," they agreed together.

Miyuki pulled away from the embrace and stared at them, her confusion taking over her embarrassment for a moment. "Wh-what you are guys doing here?"

"Vacation," Hikaru answered and his brother added, "What you doing here, Miyuki?"

"Uhm, business, actually..." She drifted off and shifted her weight onto one leg somewhat awkwardly.

The pause lasted quite a while before Tamaki hurriedly ushered them away. "Now, now, enough chatting! You two help Miyuki settle in and, uh, catch up and stuff..."

They did just that, despite Miyuki still being very much confused by the suddenness of everything. As soon as he was sure they were out of ear shot, the blonde took that opportunity to explain to Misuzu just what was happening—how at school, Haruhi posed a boy to work off a debt to the Host Club so everyone else, including the Kazehaya girl, still thought she was a boy (as far as Tamaki knew anyway).

Miyuki's appearance was unexpected but now that she was here, they had to keep her from finding out the secret.

Of course, if he had known she already knew the truth, they wouldn't have gone through so much trouble. But he didn't. And when the three hosts relayed what happened to the others, Kyoya didn't correct them.

In fact, he stayed strangely silent, not that anyone noticed. Haruhi suggested they just tell Miyuki to avoid the hassle. Tamaki still considered her his little princess so that was out of the question for him. The twins didn't help either when they stated how Miyuki couldn't keep a secret—which Haruhi couldn't deny. Hunny and Mori, who didn't really know her, leaned towards Tamaki’s line of thought.

Kyoya  _ considered  _ telling them. But then Tamaki made a decision to task someone with keeping watch over the unexpected guest, to make sure she didn't find out. And who else would be better for the job than the Hitachiins?  _ This  _ made Kyoya decide not to say anything after all.

The boys in question blinked. "Why us?"

"She likes you," Mori said simply.

"He's right," Kyoya finally agreed, fixing his glasses with a secret smirk. "You'd make the perfect distraction."

Haruhi looked to the stairs. "Where is she anyway? What if she just walks in on our little meeting?"

"She's taking a nap." Hikaru waved his hand dismissively. "We've got time. Anyway, I don't think I like this idea. She's in love _Kaoru_... why do I  have to get dragged down with him?"

"Gee, thanks, brother," the other twin muttered sarcastically. Kaoru sighed and leaned back in his chair, thinking about it. "Miyuki said she's leaving in two days..." He sighed again. "Alright, alright. I think I can do this on my own—it's only for a while. All I have to do is keep her away from Haruhi, right?"

Tamaki snapped his fingers in approval. "Right!" He patted Haruhi's head. "Don't worry, princess, daddy will take care of everything."

Haruhi deadpanned. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not my dad?"


	13. Summer Love

Kaoru actually had a pretty tiring day by the time the evening rolled around. Granted, his twin was quite worn out too but they had spent a big part of that day being apart. An old male friend of Haruhi's had come by earlier and seeing them get along sparked jealousy in Hikaru though he wouldn't admit it. And then, to try and fix things, Kaoru had pretended to be his brother and apologize to the boy while Hikaru sulked in their room.

Haruhi saw right through it though which reminded him why Hikaru and he probably developed feelings for her.

Yeah, he knew they both did. Kind of. He wasn't sure yet how he felt about Haruhi—nor about Miyuki, to be honest. It wasn't something he planned for, not realizing it was even happening until one day it just did.

Anyway, it didn't matter because his brother would always come first. Kaoru even asked Haruhi out only to make them spend time together—it made sense in his head.

_ Ask Haruhi to go on a date with him,  _ pretend  _ to get sick and then make Hikaru go in his place instead at the last minute. _

And he  _ still  _ had to keep Miyuki distracted for the rest of the day!

Kaoru had yet to come up with an actual plan to make sure she didn't see Haruhi who would be working around the pension but decided he'd figure something out along the way... He knocked on the door of the room he remembered helping her settle into earlier that day. "Miyuki? It's me, Kaoru."

Through the door, he heard something like papers ruffling and then a muffled thump, followed by a small cry. A smile crept to his lips. It was kind of charming, in an embarrassing way, this crush she had on him.

The door sprung open, revealing the black-haired girl in a sweater and pajama bottoms. "H-hi, Kaoru."

"Hey." Restraining his smile to a casual one, he gave her a once-over. "You're not going to have dinner?"

Kaoru himself wore a pair of knee-length cargo pants and a jacket over his t-shirt. Very stylish, very handsome, Miyuki noted with a blush.

Miyuki fidgeted, bowing her head. "Uhm, no... I'm still tired from the traveling so I thought I might just eat in my room tonight." The admission seemed to embarrass her a little. Eating alone at a Bed and Breakfast  _ was  _ kind of sad, she guessed.

But it was like a light bulb went off in the other's head. If she just stayed in, she wouldn't bump into anyone, right?

The boy smiled. "Mind if I join you?" The look of surprise he got implored him to elaborate—untruthful but an elaboration, nonetheless. "Hikaru's in a bad mood so I'm trying to give him some space to cool off. But it's fine if you'd rather—"

"No!" The girl blushed brighter. "I mean, uh... I don't mind. Er, come on in." Miyuki let him into the room and awkwardly closed the door behind him. She started to clear a table when he stopped her, noticing something about the papers on it.

"Are you... doing homework?"

"Y-yes..."

Kaoru couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. "Seriously? I thought you were here on business? If you're ditching  _ that _ , wouldn't you rather relax instead?"

She smiled shyly. "Well, I'm actually supposed to look around town and report back to my sister if I think it'll be a good idea to open a hotel here but I figured I could do that  _ tomorrow  _ since I have two days and I didn't really get the chance to study this summer so f—"

"Okay, okay!" Kaoru rolled his eyes in an amused manner. Miyuki started to clean up again but he pulled her hands away. "It's alright. We can sit on the floor instead. It'll be fun! If you don't mind, of course." He released his grip on her.

Miyuki shook her head and she called to have food sent to the room. That got a little difficult halfway when she noticed Kaoru taking his jacket off, probably without realizing how flustered it made her. At least she got her words through to the reception...

Thankfully, when the food came, Misuzu was the one who brought it. Kaoru made sure to be the one to take it before they opened the door, just in case, but it made the pension owner confused—right before he waggled a finger at him, tutting playfully. Kaoru closed the door and joined the girl on the floor again, digging in to the food almost immediately. Across from him, she wasted no time either.

A few bites in however, Kaoru couldn't resist asking, "So how come you never called or texted me? I gave you my number for a reason." Although he chuckled nonchalantly, he was everything but.

"O-oh... I just got busy. The grand opening of the hotel in Okinawa and stuff... A-and I didn't want to bother you."

If it had been any other person, Kaoru might've thought they were making excuses but Miyuki wasn't that kind of person. She had always been so genuine with everything she did. One of the reasons she was such a bad liar, he figured. So he smiled, believing her. "It wouldn't bother me, Miyuki. I was actually looking forward to hearing from you."

The girl smiled back, feeling warmed by his words. "Maybe after I leave Karuizawa then." After receiving a nod, she lowered her gaze to keep her eyes on the food. She was having dinner with her crush  _ alone _ ! It almost felt like a date. "H-how long have you been in town, Kaoru?"

"Uhm, we got here a day before you did, actually. But we're staying much longer than two days. It's nice here."

"Oh, have you looked around?" This was good, she thought to herself. Keep the conversation flowing...

"Nope. Uhm..." Kaoru paused and looked at her; she looked back, waiting. A plan was forming in his head. He had to keep her distracted tomorrow too. He’d originally planned to follow his brother and Haruhi around, make sure neither messes everything up. But that would involve discretion so being caught would require a good explanation. What if... "Miyuki, would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow?"

Her breath caught in her throat—that and the water she was swallowing. She coughed but recovered quickly, rubbing her chest.

The boy was halfway through reaching out to her in concern but then settled down. He was about to ask if she was okay but she spoke first.

"What? D-do you mean that, Kaoru?" She coughed a little bit more again before peering at him carefully.

"Of course."

Silence. He waited for her answer and she waited for him to burst out laughing or something. But he didn't. So she answered, "O-okay..."

And that was how Hitachiin Kaoru asked out two girls on two dates in one day.

He explained his intricate little plan to the rest of the Host Club the next day and though Tamaki objected at first, his heartwarming speech about his brother changed Tamaki's mind—reluctantly. The others were a little more accepting. As soon as they made sure Haruhi and Hikaru were going to go through with their "unplanned" date, Miyuki showed up. She had uncanny timing, that one.

She had put effort into her look, unlike last night, but Kaoru decided she looked great either way. For the date, Miyuki wore a pretty skirt and an oversized shirt. She had braided her side locks and tied them at the back of her head.

Kaoru didn't look too bad himself though she probably wouldn't have the guts to tell him. He was very casual, as always, but it worked for him—as always.

"You l-look nice, Kaoru," she blurted when they saw each other. Well, look at that. She said it.

"So do you, Miyuki." Kaoru winked, making the girl blush as he knew it would. The other hosts had the sense to make themselves scarce but they heard the pair alright. He knew they could so he was caught somewhere in between being nicer than he usually was around them and trying to act as if nothing was different to him. But there _was_ something different.

Miyuki's fingers fiddled with each other. "So what do you want to do first?" she asked nervously but there was excitement in her brown eyes.

Despite his initial intentions, Kaoru  _ was  _ on a real date and it was his first one, admittedly. With someone he actually liked too! Just like what was happening for his twin. Speaking of which...

Smiling, Kaoru nodded his head in the direction the other pair went and held out a hand to his date. "Come on."

After a bit of hesitation that lasted only a second, Miyuki stopped fiddling her fingers and placed her own hand onto his open palm. He closed his fingers around hers and they started walking down the streets of Kyu-Karuizawa.


	14. Dates

It was an enjoyable evening. Miyuki had a blast but then again, she supposed any time spent with her crush would be so. Someone once said to never meet your heroes—something about seeing their flaws and/or ruining the pedestal you put them on or something—but the longer the pair were out together, the happier she felt. Kaoru seemed a little distracted though...

He was, actually, but not really in the way she thought. In his opinion, _she_ was the one distracting him from his original plan.

Kaoru wanted to keep an eye on his brother and Haruhi but his focus kept going back to his own date. At first, he tried to lead her to wherever the other pair went which confused Miyuki considerably. Why did he insist on going to that particular store and then rushed her out of there?

Despite this, they had a good time and the lapses in concentration became fewer and further in between. Eventually, they lost Hikaru and Haruhi altogether. When he realized this, Kaoru gave up on following them and decided to leave it to the other hosts—before noticing that, unless their stalking skills were suddenly superb,  _ they  _ weren't around either.

He wondered if he should try and find his brother again. What if Hikaru was being a jerk to Haruhi? He wasn't sure whom he was more concerned about.

"Kaoru?"

The boy blinked, returning to reality. Miyuki was standing a few feet in front of him, peering at him curiously. They had been queuing up at a food stall but when she moved up the line, he hadn't followed her. Good thing there was no one waiting behind them. "You look worried... Is it Hikaru?"

"Nah." Kaoru smiled at her concern. Maybe this was his chance to have fun too. He walked towards her further up the line. The twins could survive without each other for a while. "What do you want to do after this?"

Miyuki thought about it, lifting her gaze to the sky—which wasn't as blue as it was earlier. "Should we head back? It might rain."

The boy looked upwards too. The sky wasn't that clear but it wasn't really cloudy either. He shrugged and moved his eyes back to his date. "I'll take my chances." A thought struck him then. "You keep our place in line, Miyuki. I need to go get something." Without waiting for a reply, he went off.

With a soft sigh, she waited where she was in the line, moving up when the person at the front got their food. The stall must be quite popular because not much later, a man queued up behind her before Kaoru even returned. She looked around the quaint market for tourists.

Nice place. Opening a hotel in the town might be a good idea, after all, as long as it wasn't too extravagant.

It was while waiting in this line that Miyuki heard familiar voices growing louder, indicating their approach. At first glance, she thought it was Kaoru but then there was a pretty girl next to him. Then she thought it was Kaoru with some  _ other  _ girl who started to look more and more like Haruhi as they got closer.

Then she realized the different clothing that meant it was  _ Hikaru  _ with a dressed-up Haruhi. Were those extensions to make her hair look longer? With a shriek, Miyuki rushed to duck behind the stall next door.

The pair walked past without noticing the black-haired girl, walking slow enough for her to decipher that they were on a date. Just like she was. Her mind whirled.

Did Kaoru know they were here? Was he following them? It would explain why he was so distracted... And people only looked worried when thinking about someone they cared about so was that 'someone' Hikaru or Haruhi for him?

Was that why they were on this date, in the first place?

"Uhm, Miyuki?"

The girl jumped, turning to face the source of the voice.

Kaoru quirked an eyebrow and laughed a little. "Why are you hiding here?"

She stood properly in a hurry and smoothed out the front of her skirt sheepishly. "N-no reason. But, uh, I think we should go back now. I th-think it's going to rain soon." Unexpectedly, she took his hand and started to lead him in the opposite direction she saw the other dating pair go in.

She didn't want to think of them right then, didn' t want to risk bumping into them, didn't want to ruin what had been, so far, an  _ amazing  _ day.

Kaoru, though confused, went along with it. Once he got over the shock, he sped up a little to be in step with the girl and shifted their hands into a more comfortable position.

With a blush, she realized they looked a lot like a couple with their entwined hands but when she looked at him, he only smiled.

And how could Miyuki resist smiling back? Compartmentalizing was a good skill to have.

He was glad when she did smile because he had gotten a little worried a few minutes ago. Reassured, he pulled out a small paper bag from his pocket. "I got this for you." He held it out to her, shifting their arms again to simply link them so both her hands were free.

Miyuki carefully took the bag from him and poured out the contents onto one palm. It was a small barrette, a hair clip. Quite a pretty one at it too and it was decorated with a single silver piece that was shaped into a small snowflake. She looked at the boy who appeared to have pink-tinted cheeks.

"Since you have _yuki_ in your name, I thought something snow-related would be nice." Thinking about that again, Kaoru suddenly felt embarrassed. "You've probably heard that plenty of times before. Sorry..."

She shook her head. "No, it's... it's great. I love it." As if to prove it, she clipped the piece of accessory into her hair, the silver colour standing out starkly against the dark strands. "Thank you, Kaoru."

Was it just her or did his smile grow just a little bigger?

It hardly mattered because a second later, he frowned and then looked at the sky. Clouds.  _ Dark  _ clouds. Then Miyuki felt raindrops on her head too. Her hand was grabbed and after a tug, the two of them started running the last few metres back to the Bed and Breakfast.

"I  _ told  _ you it was going to rain!" she couldn't help remarking, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the downpour.

Kaoru laughed, glancing over his shoulder at her. "You're bringing that up now?"

Finally, they made it onto the roofed patio where they immediately shook off what rainwater they could. Shivering, the girl twisted the fabric of her skirt to squeeze out as much rain as possible. She was panting by then but found the breath to say in amusement, "Seemed a good time as any."

Kaoru followed her lead and shook his head vigorously so water flew off his hair, spraying his date on purpose which made them both laugh. Miyuki turned to the sliding doors then and started to push one open before a hand was placed on hers to stop her.

"Wait." They looked at each other. There was a hint of mischief in Kaoru's gold eyes. "You know, our date would end once we step inside."

The word didn't faze her anymore. Miyuki laughed, stifling it with the back of one hand. "I think it ended when the weather changed, Kaoru."

"Not yet." Kaoru shook his head but lightly this time, that bright smile still on his face. But his cheeks were flushed.

The people on TV had it right. There was only one way to conclude a good date. It was a _good_ date, indeed. She was a good date. Feeling brave, Kaoru leaned towards Miyuki and placed his lips on hers. After getting over the surprise, she leaned on her toes to deepen the kiss and smiled beneath it.

Then they pulled apart. Despite it being completely chaste and innocent, both of them had flushed cheeks and shy smiles graced their features.

Neither said a word and when Kaoru finally broke the silence, he stammered at first. "A-alright. You can open the door now..."


End file.
